Merry Katrina Christmas

Give Louisiana a Christmas present that will last forever. It doesn't cost a dime -- and won't even come out of your taxes. Sign the petition to allow Louisiana it's fair share of offshore oil revenues -- the same benefit that other oil-producing states enjoy.

We request sufficient assistance and a streamlining of the relief distribution process to better enable the businesses and residents of the Gulf Coast to help themselves recover from this crisis.

We urge the President and Congress to make a commitment to coastal protection, a marrying of coastal restoration and hurricane protection that is key to rebuilding and revitalizing the region.
We call on the President and Congress to create a continuous funding stream to support coastal protection efforts, through a fifty-percent sharing of federal Outer Continental Shelf revenues from offshore Louisiana.

Lastly, we ask and invite every member of Congress to personally visit the Gulf Coast region to experience first-hand the devastation and to realize the full scope of this national tragedy.

I'm leaving New Orleans for a few days. It's the first time I'll have left since I came back three weeks after Hurricane Katrina. I could use a healthy dose of long highways to clear my head, and a change of scenery to get some perspective. So PGR will be down for about a week. Until then, I wish all of you a very Merry Christmas, or Hannakah or Chanukah, or Kwanzaa or ... well, my friend Bill said it better than I could:

Now, I hope you've been good this year, because I already told Santa that everyone on my distribution list should get whatever (or whoever) they want for Christmas, or whatever holiday you celebrate. Actually, I didn't tell him anything about naughty or nice, I just said you deserve what you get, I mean want. Yeah, you deserve to get what you want. ...

If you travel be safe, if you're with relatives be nice, if you're with in-laws try to be nice, if you're in-laws are your relatives, good luck.

And just for the occasion, two more Katrina Christmas photos ... happy holidays!